Survey #253—Full Response from Patti
| Pronouns | She/her |
|---|---|
| Which of the following statements describe your living situation with respect to a dining room and dining-room furniture? |
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| Please complete the following statement: “Members of my household and I eat most of our meals _____.” | We eat in various places, including at the kitchen bar, the kitchen dining area (at a table), and on trays in front of the TV. We only eat in the formal dining room when we have people over. |
| Please complete the following statement: “When I want to entertain guests for a meal, we usually eat _____.” | The dining room is our go-to for dinner parties. If we have larger family gatherings, people eat everywhere: the dining room, the kitchen table, the kitchen bar, and on their laps, if need be! For hors d'oeuvres or cheese plates , we host on the patio (we have only a coffee table set up out there). |
| What feelings or memories—positive, negative, or in-between—does the phrase “dining room” evoke for you? How have your attitudes, beliefs, or practices around dining and entertaining changed over time? What impact, if any, do dining and entertaining have on the clutter in your space? | Growing up, using the formal dining room at holidays at our house was a stressful experience, because my mom was not comfortable with the processes of entertaining. However, going to my great aunt’s house (who served as my main “grandmother”) was always a fun experience. She worked hard to make sure the food, the fancy place settings, and the conversations and games that happened around the dining room table were an experience enjoyed by all generations. I didn’t realize this as a kid, but now I know all the hard work she put in to make those gatherings relaxed, fun, and special. I strive for this when I entertain at my house now! |
| Here’s your chance to ask Gayle and Ed any question you’re curious about. It need not be related to this survey’s topic(s). If we think that your question—and our answer—might be useful or instructive to The Clutter Fairy Weekly audience, we’ll share them in an upcoming episode. | Related to dining rooms, I struggle with having too many “sentimental” items stored in my buffet and adjacent living room armoire. I’ve done one purge recently, but need to do another. Both pieces of furniture are jammed packed and make it difficult to remove and replace items easily. Unrelated comment: I’ve been thinking for a while about how fun it would be to talk about how to use technology in pursuit of decluttering. The tools are always evolving and people might have great ideas about how they use them. I was reminded of this topic when someone asked you recently about using a room planning app for downsizing. I’m a tech person, and have used a room planning app, but it’s been so long ago that I wouldn’t know the latest/best. Personally, I use the ToDoist app on a daily basis, so uncluttering-related tasks are incorporated into that system in a variety of ways. More recently, I’ve started using ChatGPT to help answer questions about timing/staging decluttering projects, and it’s been super helpful! I would be interested to hear what technology/apps others are using, but most importantly, the details of HOW they are using them. Any app is only as good as how you use it! |
| Future topics | Ooops, I put my tech idea in the “tell us anything section.” Sorry! |
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